IRAQI COURT SENTENCES WIDOW OF ISIL LEADER AL-BAGHDADI TO DEATH

Thu 11 July 2024:

An Iraqi court has sentenced the widow of the late ISIL (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to death for her involvement with the armed group and for detaining Yazidi women. The court in west Baghdad delivered the sentence under Iraq’s anti-terrorism law, according to a statement from Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council on Wednesday.

The woman, who is in custody, was accused of collaborating with ISIL and using her home in Mosul to imprison kidnapped Yazidi women, who were later taken captive by ISIL fighters in Sinjar, northern Iraq. While the court did not name her, a judicial official identified her as Asma Mohamed.

She was sentenced to “death by hanging,” a court official told Reuters, noting that the ruling must be confirmed by an Iraqi appeals court to become final and enforceable.

This sentencing comes nearly five years after US special forces killed al-Baghdadi, who had established a self-proclaimed “caliphate” across large areas of Iraq and Syria. Since ISIL was ousted from its Iraqi territories in 2017, Iraqi courts have issued numerous death and life sentences to those convicted of terrorist group membership, including over 500 foreign nationals.

In February, Iraq announced the repatriation of some of al-Baghdadi’s family members detained in Turkey. Al-Baghdadi was known to have four wives, and Turkey reported capturing one of his wives and other family members shortly after his death in 2019.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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